2017 September
FCS is applied science, Pscyhology,
Sociology and math through contexts
such as nutrition and Food science,
Relationship Education, Child Develop-
ment, apparel, textiles, and interior
Design.
FCS promotes iSTEM phi-
solophy through problem based
instruction pulling from the
social, biological, and chemical
sciences.
FCS is foundational
Life literacy including a
Life and Project plan
process model which
offers introduction to
the scientific design
process. FCS Education Human Services
ADD R ESSI NG T H E N EED FO R SO CI AL/ EMOT IO N AL
D E V E L O PM EN T A N D W O R L I F E L I T E R A C Y H AS A
CON N ECT ION T O F AMI LY AN D CON SUM ER SC I -
EN C E S A T T H E F O U N D A T I O N A L L E V EL .
Family and Consumer Sciences has many connections to today’s world
which range from healthy relationships, obesity prevention, and food
technology, to wellness, consumer, family and personal finance and
child development all through inquiry based instruction and 21st
century skills development for life success and Human Services careers.
Family and Consumer Sciences: Foundational Life Literacy
Today, many stress the need for specific
aptitudes related to the 21st century skills
and success skills. These range from criti-
cal and innovative thinking to effective
communication and ability to work in
teams successfully.
This is also reflected in the occupational
framework of the Common Career and
Technical Core—Career Ready Practices.
Family and Consumer Sciences has been
teaching 21st century skills since 1996.
This ability to take information in context
and process it using these skills is strategic
and repeated at increased rigor to ensure
students “get it”. This aligns with STEM
and social/emotional development as well.
The 21st century process skills, which
align with life literacy skills, are the fol-
lowing:
Problem Solving
Decision Making
Goal Setting
Cooperation
Management
Leadership
Communication
Critical Thinking
Connecting to STEM Professions Family and Consumer Sciences is found in middle and secondary schools across the nation. In fact, 455 Kansas Fami-
ly and Consumer Sciences teachers are teaching 37,900 students enrolled in 97,200 pathway classes according to the
Spring 2015 Family and Consumer Education Program Survey. This survey further documented a 3:1 female to male
participation which means FCS is placed perfectly to introduce and promote STEM to all students, but strategically
placed to offer a STEM introduction to females. In addition, many FCS areas align with STEM such as personal apti-
tude development, applied science through understanding in nutrition, food science and innovation, fibers, green tech-
nologies, universal living environments and sustainable living practices and promoting STEM in early childhood.
Kansas
Documenting FCS /STEM Knowledge and Skills Through Family, Career and Community Leaders of Amer-
ica is Family and Consumer Sciences in action.
Life literacy and career skill de-
velopment can be documented
through a variety of methods in
the Family and Consumer Scienc-
es classroom, but also through the
student organization Family, Ca-
reer and Community Leaders of
America (FCCLA) which is only
possible through FCS programs. FCCLA provides the avenue for students to practice skills learned in Family and Consumer Sciences in authentic, real work applica-tions and civic engagement.
FCCLA offers a variety of expe-riences to allow the student an age and developmentally appro-
priate first step in leadership, team-work and related 21st century em-ployability skills, i nc lud ing the
FCCLA planning process similar to the scientific design process.
Approximately 4,500 members in Kansas, representing all ethic and socio-economic circumstance apply the FCS content through their families, school and communities, many working in diverse teams, im-pacting an additional 250,000 Kansans last year.
Through a recent survey of
30,000 secondary FCS students
conducted by the National Re-
search Center for Colleges and
Universities (NRCCUA), 63.2%
attribute their ability to com-
municate well with others to
their FCS/FCCLA experience
and 61.3% attributed this com-
bination to their ability to work
successfully with others.
In addition, FCCLA offers com-
petitive events in areas such as
Food Innovations, Recycle and
Redesign, Sports Nutrition, Inter-
personal Communications, and
Leadership. This extends into the
career arena as well such as Early
Child, Interior Design, and Cul-
inary Math.
Many of these events require
documentation of social emotion-
al skills and understanding of
iSTEM concepts.
National FCS
Standards
Family and Consumer Sci-
ences national standards
align to society and industry
needs. Examples of content
areas are:
Hospitality and Tourism
Consumer and Family
Resources
Interpersonal Relation-
ships
Food Science, Dietetics
and Nutrition
Career, Community and
Family Connections
Education and Early
Child
www.nasafacs.org
Gayla Randel, CFCS
Education Program Consultant—Family and Consumer Sciences
Kansas State Department of Education
900 SW Jackson
785-296-4912
Many do not realize Kansas FCS:
Has two focus areas 1) prevention education which focuses on the development of the student to better address and manage work/life challenges and 2) foundational training in the helping careers, many of which are high need/high skill leading to attractive incomes;
Teachers hold degrees specifically focused on social emotional development and the bettering the human condi-tion with continual professional development from accredited universities within nutrition, wellness, food science and preparation, relationship education, parenting, child development, resource management and personal and family finance;
Teachers are considered highly qualified to teach nutrition and wellness for health credit and a number are lead-ing school wellness programs in Kansas; and
Directly teaches social emotional skills with applications in civic engagement which are vital to the Kansan’s Can vision and student success through intelligent decision making, practicing foundational life literacy, and setting life and career goals.
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